Scranton Prep’s Ilissa Hamilton danced with the devil and came away unsinged.

Time after time, Abington Heights put runners in scoring position, but the sophomore right-hander didn’t yield.

Whether it was by strikeout or letting her fielders help her, Hamilton stranded 14 baserunners, and hit a solo home run to lead the Classics to a 3-0 win in Thursday’s Lackawanna League Division I game.

Three times the Lady Comets (7-2) had two runners aboard and two other times Hamilton had her back to the wall with the bases loaded. Each time, she wriggled out of the jam.

“I really tried to focus and forget about the baserunners and just focus on the batter, especially when I was down in the count,” Hamilton said. “Just throw hard, that’s all you can do, really.”

That was plenty as she recorded strikeouts to squelch rallies in the first and third, got a groundout to leave the sacks loaded in the fourth, and watched shortstop Dana Miller make a dazzling play to put out a bases-jammed fire in the sixth.

Abington Heights’ Alivia Plevyak bounced a ball deep in the hole that seemed destined to be an infield single that would have cut a 2-0 deficit in half. But Miller slid to her left and snapped a bullet throw to second baseman Brooke Borys for a forceout to kill the uprising.

“I was in the right place at the right time,” said Miller, an outfielder by trade who made the move to short this season. “I kept my composure and got it to second, got the out for the team. I knew I had to.

“We have a lot of faith in our pitcher. She even said she wasn’t on, but we had her back to make the plays behind her.”

It was another disappointing outcome for the Lady Comets, who went 0 for 12 with runners in scoring position.

“She made a nice play,” Abington Heights coach John Kelly said. “They made the plays today. They got key hits when they needed them and that was the difference in the game. Both pitchers pitched well. They just got a key hit when they had runners in scoring position and we just couldn’t. Hamilton, take your hat off. She pitched a great game.

“She moved the ball around, kept us off balance.”

Except for catcher Dominique Emmett, who went 3 for 3 with a double.

It didn’t help that Division I RBI-leader Casey Wrobel left the game with a right hamstring injury while running to first in the third inning. Twice, Wrobel’s spot in the lineup rolled around with the bases loaded.

But Hamilton had the answers, on the mound and at the plate after Miller’s key stop.

“It’s a huge momentum shifter,” Hamilton said.

She showed how big in the bottom of the inning when she led off with a solo homer to center for a 3-0 lead.

“I kind of just pick a spot in the outfield and take a deep breath and say that’s where I’m going to pull the ball,” Hamilton said. “She was pitching me inside so I’m going to take it there.”

Prep (6-3), which lost its earlier meeting with Abington Heights in an extra inning, jumped out quickly thanks to Jessica Regan, who drilled a 2-2 pitch to left for a two-run single in the first.

“It was really big,” Regan said. “It got us all energized. It was kind of nerve-racking because there were two people on. When I got the hit, I was really excited when I got on the base. I was like, ‘yes, we’re going to win this,’ and I was so excited for our team.”

Prep’s victory also gave division-leading Valley View some breathing room. The second-place Lady Comets now trail Valley View, which visits Abington Heights today, by two games in the loss column with four games remaining.

Contact the writer: mmyers@timesshamrock.com @mmyersTT on Twitter

Abington Heights Scranton Prep

ab r h bi ab r h bi

Gockley 3b 2 0 0 0 Miller ss 3 1 1 0

Wrobel cf 2 0 0 0 Jenkins cf 2 0 0 0

Plevyak lf 2 0 0 0 Hamilton p 3 1 1 1

Emmett c 3 0 3 0 Walsh c 2 1 1 0

Lewis 1b 3 0 1 0 Regan 3b 3 0 1 2

DeMatteo dp 4 0 0 0 Borys 2b 2 0 0 0

Olevnak pr 0 0 0 0 Schoen lf 3 0 1 0

Doggett rf 3 0 0 0 Woloszyn dp 2 0 0 0

Toth ss 3 0 0 0 Insalaco rf 2 0 0 0

Gilmore 2b 2 0 0 0 Dodgson 1b 0 0 0 0

Totals 12 0 3 0 Totals 22 3 5 3

Abington Heights 000 000 0 — 0

Scranton Prep 200 001 x — 3

2B: Dominique Emmett (AH).

HR: Ilissa Hamilton (SP).

Abington Heights IP H R ER BB SO

Harris, LP 6 5 3 2 3 2

Scranton Prep IP H R ER BB SO

Hamilton, WP 7 4 0 0 5 6

Records: AH 7-2, SP 6-3

Holy Cross 3, Mid Valley 0

At St. Anthony’s Playground, Erika Mackie fired a one-hitter with six strikeouts to lead No. 1 Holy Cross to a Lackawanna League Division III win.

Gabby Giordano homered for the Lady Crusaders and Grace Perechinsky had two hits and scored a run.

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